St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-04

An objection was raised. however. and a
recess until noon was taken. Recess was
devoted to promiScuous canvasSing of views
| The committee shortly arrived and reported
| the candidates present. who were escorted
| to the chair, Mr.. Barker, of ISanti, being
the first to appear at the 'front.' Mr.. Barker
very reluctantly allowed himself to be
brought forward by Mr.. Mattson, and said:
THE MAN FROM IsANTI.
| 1t seems little unfair that you should
select me as the first one to give my views
on the questions which interest US all in
common, on the occasion of these somewhat
novel proceedings. 1t looks as if the other
| candidates had conspired together against
me to get me to speak first l come here
representing in part two of the largest farm
| ing counties in the North, and l intend to
represent my constituents and to act con-
scientiously and honestly. l find, since l
| have come down here, that my opponents
who aspire to the speakership have been
| pushing an active canvass during my alb
| sence, consequently cannot now say that
| am pronounced candidate
| The indirect withdrawal of Mr.. Barker,
and exceeding brevity of his remarks, rather
startled his audience and embarrassing
pause ensued. After a little while Mr..
Mattson called for Mr.. Butfum, of Steel e
county. That gentleman arose and was
commencing to speak at his seat when a
gentleman yelled: Come forward" Nh.
Buffum was reluctant to do so, and com-
menced to speak again, when Chairman
Reese invited him to come forward and had
to repeat his invitation before the gentle
man from Owatonna decided to go to the
speakers desk. Then he said:
MR.. BUFFUM'S LITTLE SPEECH
This seems to me like a peculiar proceed
ing. You come together in a caucus and in
vite me and other candidates to come here
and express our views. This seems entirely
unnecessary. We have all been elected upon
certain principles as outlined in the party
platforms, and every person. when he aspires
to represent the public Will in legislation. or
whether he aspires to an Office of influence
feels that his duty is to his constituents, and
that he should do it conscientiously; and
with that end in view. gentlemen, am here
You all know my views, and have only to
refer back to my record. Gentlemen, [ thank
you for your Invitation.
A dampnesS fell over the caucus. Evil
IDENTIFY Donnelly's scheme had failed, or
the several candidates had conspired to-
gether not to parade their positions as if
for bids. The position of each was en-
barraSSing, and a sort of courtesy seemed
TO prevail among the gentlemen, which
prevented one from attempting to appear
to better advantage than another Ap-
parently Messrs. Barker and Buffum had
been prompted to say nothing from the
fear that if they said much their opponents
who took the floor later would take advant-
age of it. The caucus waited for the next
in mute disappointment. Mr.. Merriam
was near at hand, and he addressed the
audience as follows:
BANKER MERRIAM's EFFORT
feel very grateful for the opportunity of
being here, and | want to thank you for Civ
ing me an opportunity to state in public
what l have already said il private. l am
aware that | occupy somewhat Of a dsadvan-
tageous position, owing to the rather absurd
idea that the interests Of the city and country
tend in opposite directions; but / believe
there are members who are broad enough to
see that the interests OF the city and country
are Identical. l believe the great basis of
wealth in this state is agriculture. ] am well
aware of the fact that in the legislature the
railroad, grain ana warehouse and finance
questions are matters of great vital interest,
and that the committees in charge of such
matters should be selected fairly and euuit-
pleased to elect me as your speaker will
deal fairly and equitably with you. Gentle
men, once more wish to thank you.
The first faint indication of any enthu-
siasm was now apparent and some applause
rewarded Mr.. Merriams effort. 1t re-
manned now for William E. Lee, of Todd
county, to ''do up' the other three gentle
men. How far he succeeded was indicated
by the applause this speech produced:
THE MAN WITHOUT A NECKTIE.
Gentlemen: My name has been presented
as a candidate for speaker. | recognize that
the Repu blican party will organize this house
and will be in a great degree responsible
for its successes and mistakes, and |
believe that the pledges cf the Repub-
lican party will govern this house.
was elected to represent my constituents on
those pledges. went before the farming COM
munities and stated fully what my views
were, and [ do not see any reason to change
them l do not belong to that class of men
who think there is only one class or industry,
but l am one of those men who believe that
there is one great class and industry in this
state which has been sadly neglected, and
propose, for one, whether / am elected
speaker or not, TO see to it that this class and
industry shall be neglected no longer
This was all the Impromptu contest of ora
tory between the four gentlemen amounted
to. and its effect left the ninety odd members,
who had been reinforced by d. B. Searle,
of st. Cloud, and some other gentle
men, feeling disappointed and speech
seemed inclined to do anything.
Mr.. Donnelly got up and said there We're
two courses open to the meeting-one, to
wait until the evening caucuses before tax
ing q vote upon the candidates; the other.
to meet with closed doors and discuss the
different candidates in secret. Secretary
Furlong objected to taking any definite ac-
ton until the evening. He moved the ap-
pointment of committee of five. one from
each congressional district, to look after the
legislative interests of the farming clement,
and,
AT MIR. DONNELLY'S SUGGESTION,
to have power to call future meetings Mr..
Estes, of Madelia, asked if it was the in
tention of the meeting to have the COM
mittee selected Jointly from the house and
senate, or only from the house. He amended
MI Furlong's motion to make the number
of the committee eight-fiIe from the house
and three from the senae. L. H. Lucas, of
Hennepin county, inquired if the committee
was to be selected from both parties.
or only one, and he asked if
the caucus of Mr.. Donnelly. to be held
in the evening was to be a partisan one
Mr.. DOnnelly replied that the caucus would
be of Republicans. Mr.. Luces then re-
torted thet it would probably be the last
time that he would ''open his mouth in this
caucus" and he wished to ''say what he
had to say now" He contended that the
partisan methods would spoil the influence
of the farmers in the legislature. and pro-
ceeded to bring out a farmers candidate
for United States senator, saying:
You all know that there is only one man
just now who has been brought out as a can
d!date for senator and that man is lawyer,
c. K. Davis. Now, gentlemen, you know our
United States senate is filled with lawyers
and bankers, and not farmers. l propose
that it is time that we should send q farmer
to the United States senate. l am going to
propose the IL. me of man who came very
near being elected governor-a man who is a
farmer and can stand upon his record.